12 Days of Regulatory Insights: Day 9 - Trends in the Tobacco Industry — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
Over the past two years, at least 15 states have enacted laws requiring manufacturers of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) to certify the status of their federal premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) in...more
In mid-January, a bipartisan coalition of nine state attorneys general, as well as the Washington, D.C., attorney general, announced a coordinated effort to curb illicit electronic cigarette sales. The attorneys general of...more
In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating all manufacturers, retailers, and distributors of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) with following the agency’s promulgation of the Final Deeming...more
Our colleagues recently wrote about 14 memoranda from the new U.S. Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi to Department of Justice (DOJ) employees framing the DOJ’s current policies and enforcement priorities. In a memorandum...more
In what appear to be the first restrictions of their kind, the state of California and the city and county of Denver have adopted bans on flavored tobacco products that cover not only products containing tobacco and nicotine,...more
In late January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew its proposed rules to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors in cigars. Although either proposal could be...more
Yet again, the premium cigar industry has prevailed in federal court against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA appealed a federal district court decision vacating its rule (the Deeming Rule) subjecting premium...more
In the final days of the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken a significant step toward reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes by submitting a proposed rule to the Office of Management and...more
On Monday, a federal judge from the Eastern District of Texas, Judge J. Campbell Barker, ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) exceeded its authority under the Tobacco Control Act by requiring cigarette...more
On January 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule that would set a maximum nicotine level in combusted cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products....more
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a final guidance document, Validation and Verification of Analytical Testing Methods Used for Tobacco Products. This nonbinding guidance provides tobacco product...more
On December 17, 2024, Iowans for Alternatives to Smoking & Tobacco, Inc., Global Source Distribution, LLC, and others filed a complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction in federal district court against the Iowa...more
Throughout 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) endeavored to curb sales of unauthorized electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in the U.S. In light of persistent demand for flavored ENDS — nearly all of...more
As the tobacco industry anticipates a second Trump administration, it’s banking on what some public health experts describe as his unpredictable approach to regulation. Trump’s history of abrupt policy shifts makes tobacco...more
In October, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that a law restricting the packaging of e-cigarettes violates the state constitution’s free speech protections. The decision illustrates the utility of free speech arguments...more
Last month, California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta announced the awardees for the 2024-2025 Tobacco Grant Program, a program spearheaded by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) that aims to support local law...more
A consumer class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against EVO Brands, LLC and PVG2, LLC, both doing business as Puff Bar. The lawsuit alleges that Puff Bar...more
A new and unprecedented wave of class action complaints is targeting a common feature of many employer-sponsored benefit plans: tobacco-user surcharges. These surcharges are often part of a wellness program that charges...more
In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told industry that it would begin enforcing the agency’s cigarette graphic warning rule in December 2025 in an enforcement policy outlined in a short guidance...more
Earlier this month, 20 Democratic state attorneys general (AG) filed an amicus brief supporting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) marketing denial orders (MDOs) of premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) for...more
We recently had the opportunity to attend, and present at, the industry portion of the 2024 Federation of Tax Administrators Tobacco Tax Annual Conference in Mobile, Alabama....more
In August, a group of tobacco companies filed a petition for certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of a lower court’s holding that the First Amendment does not prohibit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...more
We have previously reported on the proliferation of tobacco product flavor bans imposed by localities and subsequent legal challenges throughout the U.S. See Oregon Court Upholds Local Tobacco Product Flavor Ban; Troutman...more
The landscape of tobacco product and cannabis flavor bans or restrictions varies significantly across the country. In both industries, some states restrict all or some flavors in all types of products, while other states...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently upheld, in a unanimous decision, the town of Brookline’s ordinance banning the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000 (the Tobacco...more